


A fatal rescue

by CrimeLady



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Crime Scenes, Fear, Sherlock Holmes Has Feelings, Sherlock Holmes Has a Heart, Suicide, Suspense
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-08
Updated: 2020-09-25
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:40:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 19,472
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26360551
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrimeLady/pseuds/CrimeLady
Summary: Sherlock had once again successfully solved a case and saved a life. But it should take a completely different turn...
Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 5





	1. Unexpected meeting

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fanfiction I ever wrote. It is a translation of my German history. So sorry if the translation didn't work out that well.
> 
> The characters are almost all owned by the BBC and Arthur C. Doyle, the story is fictitious, so please don't copy it...
> 
> And now have fun while reading ;)

"How I hate this. I hate riding the subway!"   
Sherlock Holmes had just finished another case successfully, but during an altercation with the perpetrator, he was unhappy to get into the mud a lot. The cab drivers did not want to take him in this condition of course. So for better or worse he was forced to take the subway.  
When he entered the platform, he noticed the looks of the people. But he did not care. He just wanted to go home and take a shower and change his clothes.  
The advertisement on the board showed that the next train would arrive in 5 minutes. So he went to a quiet corner a little away from the other people and typed on his cell phone. A message from John Watson, his new roommate:   
_**Sherlock, where are you?**_

He quickly typed the answer and then looked again at the blackboard. Two more minutes.   
As his gaze passed through the crowd on the platform, he suddenly paused. There on the platform, between a group of men with their expensive suits and briefcases, stood a young woman. She seemed somehow nervous. She looked alternately at the scoreboard, her watch and into the tunnel where the subway was to come out. A little too often in his opinion. Now and then she looked into her surroundings or in the direction of the escalator leading to the track. Stop, was she crying?, he thought to himself. A small tear ran down her cheek. He continued to fix it with his gaze. Something was wrong. The young woman's behavior was too strange. The young woman now moved further and further towards the track, but only so far that the people around her couldn't notice. When he heard the sound of the subway coming in, he saw that there were only a few centimeters between her and the precipice to the track. No, she didn't want to be the first in the train. She wanted to jump.  
He had to act quickly. So without further ado he moved towards the young woman and before she could put her plan into action, he grabbed her by the arm and pulled her away from the end of the platform. 

"Don't do it," he replied to her. 

The young woman, now he could see that she was no older than 34 years, then looked at him in shock.   
"What... How could you...?"

When all the people had boarded the subway and it left, only Sherlock and the young woman stood on the platform.  
But suddenly, unexpectedly for Sherlock, she screamed:   
"You IDIOT! What have they done! You've ruined everything!"

Sherlock, visibly confused by her outburst: "I just saved your life!"

"I didn't ask you to, and now let me go!" 

Sherlock now realised he was still holding the young woman by the arm. He loosened his grip and the young woman, without looking at him again, walked towards the exit.  
Sherlock, still slightly confused by this reaction, stood motionless on the platform. Only the ringing of his cell phone brought him out of his rigidity.  
  
**John?**  
_**Sherlock, where are you, there's a new case!**_  
**I'm on my way.**

After this incident, he decided not to take the tube after all. So he headed for the exit, where the young woman also disappeared. He had decided to walk instead. Walking is a better way to clear your head anyway.  
But the young woman could not get out of his head. 

'Who was she and why did she react so snidely,' he thought to himself.

After a good 40 minutes, he finally arrived at 221B Baker Street, without knowing anything about it. John sat in his armchair and talked to Detective Inspector Lestrade about the case. Sherlock had decided not to tell John about the situation in the subway station.

"Sherlock, are you okay? What took you so long?", asked John. 

The detective waved and immediately asked for more information about the case.


	2. Reunion

**2 weeks later**

The case, as well as many other cases, was successfully solved in a very short time. For Sherlock nothing but 6 or 7 on his scale. Nevertheless, he kept thinking about what happened in the underground station and about the young woman.   
'Whether she had really put her plan into action,' he thought to himself.

Sherlock and John were sitting on a case again when John realised that something could be wrong with his best friend.

"Sherlock, are you all right? Did you hear what I just said?' John asked. 

But Sherlock, lost in thought, did not react, but simply stood up, put on his coat and scarf and said goodbye to John with the words   
"I still have to clarify something. Don't wait for me!" 

And before John could say anything else, Sherlock came back into the room and told him: "Oh, and tell Lestrade to arrest the brother. More explanations later!" With that he was gone and John was once again sitting in his armchair, stunned.

Sherlock walked the streets for a while when he suddenly stopped at a café. It wasn't hunger that stopped him, no, it was a certain person that caught his attention. She was sitting there at the second table on the wall of the café. The young woman from the underground. So she was still alive, he thought to himself.

It was a small shop, with many small niches that would offer a certain privacy, a small counter at the very end with a selection of small pastries and 3 larger coffee machines. The tables were small and covered with useless decoration. Everything seemed to be in harmony, very harmonious. Almost a bit kitschy. A shop that Sherlock would actually never enter voluntarily. 

"May I sit down?" he asked when he arrived at the young woman's table. 

She was sitting right against the wall, on the table a coffee and a current newspaper from today. In her hand she was holding a book. It was not a typical book that women who often spend their time in such a café would read. Rather, this book was about unsolved criminal cases in London. When Sherlock saw the book, he thought: 'Hm, very nice.'

Without even looking up, she said, "What do you want?"

"I wanted to know if you were all right after that incident."  
  
"Pfff", she snorted and rolled her eyes. 

Sherlock, again visibly confused, "I don't understand?"   
  
Now she looked up from her book and looked deep into his eyes. My God, those eyes. I didn't really notice this deep blue the first time.  
'It almost seems as if their eyes penetrate me,' he thought. 

"As if the great master detective, no Consulting Detective, Mr. Sherlock Holmes was interested in people," she hissed at him. 

She noticed his astonished look and responded with her finger on the newspaper next to her:   
"The newspaper. I know exactly who they are. She doesn't give a damn about the person and how they are, they only think about their cases. You probably think that this could be a new case for me too!"

Sherlock didn't know what to say. So he grabbed the chair and sat down, even without her permission. 

"Why did you want to...?"   
But before he could finish, she interrupted him: 

"...throw me in front of the subway? Well, Mr. Master Detective, tell me. Why do people do that now and then?" 

Now she looked at him forcefully. But before Sherlock could answer, she replied further:   
"You know, you can't understand. That's what compassion is needed for, and that's something a sociopath lacks in principle. And now you are leaving. I am not another client and I can well do without you! 

She actually didn't want to be so hard. She had changed. She used to be more of a gray mouse. Always anxious to do or say the right thing so as not to hurt her fellow human beings. She was always helpful to her fellow human beings and often put her needs in the background. But since that one day, something has changed. Everything has changed.   
With these words she said goodbye to him without taking her eyes off him.

'That look again' and suddenly a shiver came over him. 

But not in the bad way. Sherlock, who still couldn't make a sound, paused briefly before he complied with her wish and got up from his chair. He noticed that he was visibly unwanted and somehow he did care this time. But before he could say goodbye and leave the café, he heard her phone ring. Tense, somewhat distant, he listened to the conversation.  
  
"What... No... I am on my way... Please don't..."

Something was wrong that Sherlock knew. Her words she said to him said one thing but her eyes were calling for help. And then the phone call. Sherlock decided to leave the café but to wait. He walked a few metres away and leaned against the wall. As a distraction, he tapped his mobile phone and briefly wrote a message to John saying that he would not be available for a while.

'Who is this woman and why does she think I only see a new case?' he asked himself. 'Okay, the last one was a rhetorical question. Maybe she was right and I smell a new case?'

Sherlock was overcome with that strange feeling he had earlier. He was determined to find out what was going on.  
Soon after he left the café, the young woman came out too. She called a taxi and Sherlock did the same. He signalled the driver to follow the preceding taxi.


	3. Danger

It was shortly after dusk when the taxi stopped. Sherlock's taxi also stopped, but a few metres away. He wanted to remain undiscovered. When the young woman got out and went into a larger old hall, Sherlock knew exactly where he was. It was an old disused industrial area, not far from the city.  
He hinted to the driver to wait here and imperceptibly followed the young woman inside. On the way there, he inspected the surroundings. He had to be in the rear part of the industrial area, because he did not know these facilities yet.  
Suddenly the woman stopped and Sherlock hid behind a larger cupboard a few metres away from her. They were now in a hall with several machines and smaller containers to the right and left. In the middle was the young woman. Above her there was a smaller lifting crane, where probably heavier weights could be transported, and a small lamp that only lit up the place where the woman stood.

"Ah, Ms Wilson", he heard a voice say. 

Suddenly 3 figures emerged from the dark shadow. Two of them were tall, almost the size of Sherlock, and seemed extremely powerful. The third man who spoke now was a little smaller.   
'Okay, here's a name for the young woman,' he thought.  
  
"What do you want? I've already told you once that I won't say anything. I haven't been to the police either. I haven't told anyone about it and I won't," she said in an excited voice.

"You have been bad, Ms Wilson. You have done things that could harm us and they will pay for it now!" 

At that moment he pulled out a gun and pointed it at the young woman. 

"Where are they? Look in her bag!" he asked one of his men in the background. 

A short time later he pulled her mobile phone out of her bag. Now the detective could hear that the men had a slight accent.

'So they're not from here,' he thought to himself.

Suddenly a shot rang out! Sherlock, who thought the young woman had been shot, breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the man with the gun had only fired at the phone.  
Sherlock knew he had to do something, otherwise she would be dead in a moment.   
  
"I hope for you that, that was all! Otherwise you would be very stupid. Our boss wouldn't like that at all!   
Waving the gun around, he added: "We'll find her anyway. But they won't find out anyway, because they'll be dead!"

Ms Wilson just shrugged her shoulders dismissively. It would be over in a moment anyway. Visibly annoyed by her reaction, the little man suddenly pulled out and struck her in the face with the gun. Ms Wilson then sank down to her knees.

'Your boss, so they work for someone,' Sherlock thought. 

"Well, do you see your phone there? This is what's going to happen to you now. First you and then..." ,he said with a smug grin on his face.   
With a quick glance at his two companions, he signalled to them to leave the room. 

"NO," she yelled now. "This was not part of the deal!" 

Ms Wilson, still kneeling on the floor sobbing, stared after the two men. She had not cried for a long time. The last time in the subway station and there too, it seemed very strange to her. She thought that she had "lost" all emotions after that day.  
  
"No, this was not part of the deal! They already got what they wanted, she whispered.  
  
The man with the gun just grinned, the gun still pointed at her. 

"So Ms Wilson, any last words?"

Time was running out. Sherlock desperately needed to think of something. He scoured the room, looking for anything he could use for defence.   
There in the corner - NOTHING, there also NOTHING and in the corner - NOTHING.   
He was on the verge of despair when he noticed the lifting crane over them. On the hook was a slightly larger sack filled with some kind of substance - he couldn't see what it was because of the darkness. 

'Okay, it's worth a try. The weight probably won't be enough to kill him, but at least to knock him out for a few minutes,' he thought. 

Now all he had to do was find the switch that would drop the weight. The switch was located on the side to the left of Sherlock. To get to it, he had to get across the room somehow, and fast. He could already hear the release of the weapon. Sherlock had to play for time somehow.

"So Ms Wilson, do you have any last words?" said the man and was about to pull the trigger.

But suddenly there was a sound. The man looked around him, but could see nothing. 

"Pfff, he snorted "stupid rats". Then he turned to the young woman again.   
To make it more dramatic for her, he now began to count down a countdown. „3.......,2.......!

Sherlock was now able to reach the counter. "and 1." 

_Silence._

Ms Wilson, who had probably narrowed her eyes, looked up and could see the little man lying in front of her. On top of him lay a sack filled with sand. He seemed to have fainted.

"We have five minutes, come on", the detective said to her as he grabbed her arm again. 

Ms Wilson didn't know what had just happened. When she touched Sherlock, she flinched noticeably. Apparently it was too much, as she collapsed at that very moment. Sherlock, who had noticed this, could barely catch her. He now took her in his arms and carried her out. The taxi he had taken before was still standing right where it was. He put her on the back seat before he sat down to take it. Her head lay on top of both of them. When he noticed the surprised look of the taxi driver, he replied in passing: "Too drunk". 

He gave him the address " 221B Baker Street" and sank happily into the seat. He woke up the young woman shortly before the address mentioned. When she saw where she was, she stood up with a jerk and looked at Sherlock in shock.   
"What has happened, where am I?", she asked, holding her head. Blood was sticking to her hand and she had a headache, a terrible headache. 

"You are safe," he replied to her. 

The young woman slowly seemed to understand again what had happened. Her eyes narrowed and then she turned back towards Sherlock: 

"You don't know what you've done with this!" Sherlock, irritated by her testimony, decided to say nothing more and to remain silent. He would find out soon enough what was going on. Soon after, the car stopped. Sherlock paid the driver and signalled Ms Wilson to accompany him. She followed him, albeit reluctantly.   
Where else would she go now, in London at night? She could not go back to her flat.


	4. Her Story

Shortly after he opened the door to his flat, John came to meet him.

"Sherlock, where have..." 

But before he could finish his sentence, his eyes fell on the young woman at Sherlock's side. 'A woman at Sherlock's side?' wondered John. 

She was very calm, staring at the floor, one cheek with blood on it.  
  
"This is Ms Wilson. "She's a cl... Um, Ms Wilson is a guest with us tonight,' Sherlock said, somewhat embarrassed, and sat down in his chair. 

He ignored the look the young woman gave him. After all, she thought he was only interested in a new case anyway. He hinted at her to take a seat on the sofa.

"What happened?" asked John, who saw the blood running down her temple. 

"A small accident," she replied to him. 

After he had treated the wound, he also took a seat in his armchair. He noticed that she was visibly uncomfortable and decided not to question her further for the time being. So he now asked Sherlock to tell him what had happened. The detective started to talk about the situation in the subway station, in the café and about tonight. After he had finished, John turned to the young woman. He asked her compassionately: 

"How do you feel now? Would you like a cup of tea, Ms Wilson?"  
  
"Katie please, and thank you very much." A brief faint smile graced her face.

Sherlock, once again unaware of this, rolled his eyes only slightly before turning to the young woman: 

"So, Ms Wilson, tell me, what did these men want from you?"

John, who had overheard all this from the kitchen, just glanced at Sherlock with a quick rebuke.

"What is it?" he asked, slightly annoyed and confused. 

Katie, who had been watching the whole scenario, could not help but smile slightly. 

"Look Mr Holmes, I mean this with compassion", pointing at John. 

John now had to smile as well. Only Sherlock did not understand and looked even more confused than usual.  
  
"I'm glad if I could contribute to your amusement. When they're finished then?!!!" Sherlock replied almost slightly obstinate. 

"But at least you're laughing again now, Katie," said John, passing her the cup of tea and signalling with a quick glance: „any time they're ready...“.  
After a short time Katie suddenly stood up from her seat. The two men looked at each other and thought she wanted to leave but she just sat down on the chair where clients usually sit. When she saw the looks of both men, she had to grin and explain: 

"This is where your clients usually sit, isn't it?"

"OK, Ms Wilson, so tell me..." Sherlock started. 

"Katie please. And I thought you were the master detective here. So go on, deduce me!"

John had to smile again and whispered to Sherlock, "I'm growing fond of her."

Sherlock, who hadn't expected it but was visibly taken with the idea, began to talk:

"You are in your mid-thirties, no older than 35 years, you are not originally from London but you are used to big cities, probably somewhere north of England. You have no connection to your family; probably earlier experiences of violence. I could tell by your reaction when you flinched when I touched them, and you are very careful not to let your clothes slip. Probably to hide haematomas. You have not been in the city for long. You had to change their lives suddenly, hide. You have also changed your appearance. You have recently dyed your hair. I can tell by your slightly outgrowing roots. You have also lost a lot of weight recently. Probably stress and no time for shopping yet. You are on the run. These men, not from here, Portuguese accent, probably Brazilian Mafia, are after you. You have something they want. Probably photos or videos. You wanted to protect someone with your deaths, family- no, you are not a family type, you are finished with them, a friend- your boyfriend and for some reason, you are not very fond of me, even though I saved your life twice...No, wait, you are afraid of rejection and that is why you did not come to me, for fear I would reject their case. That is why you were so aggressive towards me. But why didn't you go to the police?, he now thought aloud.  
"Oh", he replied succinctly. "You can't go to the police because then you would betray someone very close to you."

With a feeling of satisfaction, Sherlock sank back into his chair:   
"And was I wrong about something," he said with a smug grin. 

John rolled his eyes, knowing that Sherlock had said the same thing to him the first time they met

Katie, who couldn't take her eyes off Sherlock during his explanations, seemed stunned but didn't want to let on. 

"Well, Mr Holmes," Katie began. "You seem to enjoy deducing people, she replied sarcastically. 

Another grin on John's face.  
  
"I am 34 years young, to be precise. I'm originally from near Leeds. I arrived in London about 2 weeks ago. I live alone and I don't live in any relationship. My family situation is quite tense. My mother had left us early, my father blamed me and showed his affection, well, through corporal punishment. After my father had once again beaten me so badly that I thought I would not survive this, my brother came and beat him up. He had killed our father to save my life. After that he was gone. I told the police that it was a burglar and left the city without further ado. So I moved to Leeds and got a job. I have another younger brother who joined the wrong people at an early age. He was barely at home and was taking drugs. One day I followed him because I was worried and saw three men (I only found out later that he was with the government) first blackmailing a man and when he did not comply with the demands, killing him in cold blood. They then presented it as suicide. I managed to take some photos and videos of the perpetrators before I was discovered. The men threatened me that if I did not give them what they wanted, they would find me and kill me. They also found out that my brother was among them and then blackmailed me with my brother's life. It was either me or him...Again and again they sent me pictures showing my brother with ever new and worse wounds..." This sentence and the memories brought renewed tears to Katie. "I didn't want him to die, he is still so young and he still has a chance to go a new way in life. So I decided to end it myself. I knew that the men were watching my brother constantly and I decided to tell him what I wanted to do. I knew that somehow he would try to stop me and that the men would follow him and then see my death. Everything was perfectly planned until they intervened, Mr. Holmes. 

'There it was again, that look', Sherlock thought. A feeling unfamiliar to him came over him. Was it guilt?

"You'd ruined everything with their rescue operation. How do I know my brother's even going to..." 

Katie broke off abruptly, her tears started flowing again. When she had regained her composure, she spoke to Sherlock again:   
"You see, I'm not a client or a case of any kind. You can't help me".

Regardless of what Katie said last, Sherlock began to speak:

"I remember the alleged suicide. They found information at the time that suspected him of having sold important and secret information for money. The media did not leave him alone. Proceedings were to be initiated. It was said that he could not stand the pressure and therefore shot himself in the head. I agreed that it had to be murder and that the information had been falsified.

Suddenly Sherlock jumped up from his chair and screamed:   
"This is perfect! With your testimony we can disprove the suicide. All we have to do, is find out who is the head of the whole organisation?"

"SHERLOCK!!!", John suddenly screamed, pointing at Katie who was sitting on her chair crying in disarray.

Sherlock seemed to understand, hiding his initial enthusiasm and falling back into his chair. A brief "Excuse me" escaped his throat before he withdrew thoughtfully.  
John, who was extremely embarrassed, also apologised for his friend's behaviour. Katie, who had calmed down in the meantime, only waved her hand away with the words:   
"It's all right, it's not tact."

John had to grin and Katie now too. 


	5. An interesting walk

It was now just before midnight.

"Okay, gentlemen. I will now have to leave slowly. I still have to find a hotel for tonight. I can't go home now. And tomorrow I'll have to leave London," said Katie.

"You can stay here tonight as well," said John and looked at Sherlock questioningly.

He, still absorbed, showed with a simple gesture that it was okay.  
Unfortunately, Katie had to decline the offer. She wanted to leave London as soon as possible and had to leave before dawn. 

"Okay, well, then why don't you have a look at the hotel near here - about 15 minutes from here," John explained to her. 

Katie thanked him again for the tea and the address of the hotel and turned to Sherlock again as she walked. 

"Goodbye, Mr Holmes, and thank you for saving my life!" When Sherlock heard this, he couldn't help smiling. 

With those words, she disappeared out the door. 

"Sherlock, you will accompany her!" cried John now.   
"It's night-time now, some men are trying to kill her and you're the one who got her into this situation. Go on, then!" and pushed him out the door.

Katie was not far away when Sherlock caught up with her.   
"Ms Wilson," he shouted, but Katie answered him:   
"Just Katie please, Ms Wilson is my mother." 

Sherlock had to grin again. Something triggered this woman in him, he just didn't know what it was yet. 

"What do you want?" Katie pulled him out of his thoughts. 

"I'd like to walk you back to your hotel. It's not safe for you at the moment."

"Was this your idea?" she asked, looking piercingly at Sherlock. 

"No, actually it was John's idea," he said with his head slightly lowered. 

'But I must admit I would have preferred to have thought of this idea before,' thought Sherlock. 

"John was right. Somehow I was to blame for all this misery, I admit I saved her life twice..."

Frightened, Katie looked up at Sherlock. 

"Oh, did I say that out loud?" he asked her.  
.  
"Could it be that the great Sherlock Holmes is developing something like a sense of guilt," she now asked slightly mockingly. 

The detective did not answer but could not help but stifle a slight grin.  
They walked along silently for a while until Katie suddenly broke the silence: 

"Can I ask you something?" Without waiting for his answer, she continued:  
"How did you know what I was going to do at the tube station?"

Sherlock used his observations to explain how he could see through her plan.  
  
"Ah, so that's how it was. So I'll just have to be more careful next time," she said.

Startled, Sherlock looked her in the face. 

"Just kidding," Katie laughed now. 

Sherlock now had to smile too. When she could already see the hotel in the distance, he turned to Katie and touched her shoulders. She shrugged under his touch again. 

"Oh, sorry" Sherlock explained when he noticed this.   
"Listen. I want to help you and take over the case. Before he could continue, he noticed that he had said "case". Without going into it again, he continued: "I want to help you find your brother and arrest the men. 

"Mr. Holmes, isn't there something else behind this?", Katie asked curiously.  
  
"No, I'm in this somehow and I'm sorry that I've only made things more difficult for you now. Listen, I know someone who has good contacts. He works in the British government, which means he is the British government and he will certainly help us when he hears what this is all about.  
  
He was talking about Mycroft, his brother. 

"All you would have to do is tell him again what you have seen. Shit only that you don't have the pictures or videos anymore"  
  
Katie looked at Sherlock before she realised what he had said. Then she reached into her bag, into a small secret compartment and took out a USB stick. 

"Do you really think I haven't made copies?" she said, grinning. 

"Very well then, tomorrow we will go to my brother and show him these. Take good care of it." 

Katie pondered for a moment before she said anything. She wasn't sure if she could really trust him or if he just meant another case. But something was different. Suddenly she didn't find him so smug anymore. 

"Even though I might regret it", she explained "I want you to take him" and held the stick out to him. 

´Regret, what does she mean by regret`, he thought, but decided to say nothing but 'Thank you. I will take good care of it." 

Now when they arrived at the hotel, it wasn't a very posh hotel, plain and simple, a tall building with 8 floors and a small entrance at the front, Sherlock decided to escort them to the room to make sure it was really empty.   
When Katie unlocked the door to her room, he gently pushed himself past her and inspected the room. Everything was in order. Why he did this, he didn't know himself. Katie stood in the doorway and didn't really know what to make of it.

"Um, do you want to spend the night here as well?", she asked. 

Sherlock, slightly startled by this question, drove around and replied: 

"What?...No...I just wanted to check that everything was all right.  
  
"Kind of sweet of him," thought Katie. Sherlock, who had not failed to notice, slightly confused, now looked in her direction. Katie, who realised she had said it out loud, immediately blushed. 

"Okay, if everything's all right then you can go now," she said and pushed Sherlock out the door. 

He stopped briefly on the threshold, turned to Katie and put his hands on her shoulders again. But this time she didn't flinch. He looked deep into her eyes. "My God, what eyes," they both thought this time. 

"Please promise me that you'll still be here in the morning. I'll pick you up here at nine o'clock. Promise me. I'll see you tomorrow." 

Without waiting for her answer, he disappeared.

Katie kept looking after him until he reached the end of the corridor. She then closed the door and looked around the room. It was a simple room. In the middle on the left side was a bed. Opposite it was a small desk, with some utensils that hotels prepare for their guests, and a small television set on a cupboard. The bathroom was in a small room to the right of the cupboard. It was now 1am and tiredness was gradually taking over. But before she went to bed, she took a piece of paper that was on the table. She decided to leave Sherlock a short message. She wanted to start looking for her brother in the morning.   
Then, completely exhausted from the day, she went to bed and fell asleep immediately. 

Sherlock, who had just arrived at his flat, seemed slightly confused. Something triggered Katie in him.   
What is it about this woman? And why should she regret giving me the USB stick?' he asked himself.   
When he entered the flat it was already dark. John must have already gone to bed. Without further ado, Sherlock did the same and went to bed. But not to sleep, but to continue his thoughts on the case, no, to keep the story of Katie going. Who was the mastermind? What did he want? And above all, where was her brother and was he still alive or is he already dead, thanks to Sherlock's intervention? With these questions in his head, he finally fell asleep.


	6. escape

Strange noises and creaking floorboards suddenly woke Katie from her sleep. It was now 4 o'clock in the morning. She hadn't really slept, but she felt wide awake now.

'They're here. They've found me,' it flashed through her mind. 

Katie knew she had to flee in a hurry. But how? She couldn't go through the door. She looked around the room.   
"The fire escape!" 

Sherlock must have known that something like this was going to happen, or might. He told the receptionist that she wanted a room on the courtyard side, in front and to the left. Katie was a bit confused but didn't think anything of it. She had been far too exhausted.  
So she packed her things, took the letter she'd written a few hours earlier and disappeared out the window down the fire escape. Just in time when she heard the door to her room suddenly burst open and men were looking for her. 

"Where is she?" asked one of them. 

"Damn it, she's gone!" cried the other in rage. 

Then she only heard it crack.  
Shortly after Katie reached the end of the stairs, she ran to the front entrance again. The receptionist who had given her the room yesterday stood behind his table, slightly tired. When he saw Katie, his face brightened.  
  
"Ms Walthers, up so early?" 

Katie had given him a false name because she wanted to remain undiscovered.

"Yes, I'm afraid I have to leave very early. Thank you very much. Oh, and could you please give this letter to the gentleman who accompanied me last night?" she said and handed him the letter. 

"He will come by this morning, but I'm afraid I couldn't wait that long."

"Of course. Is there anything else I can do for you?" he asked.

Katie waved goodbye, thanked him again and disappeared. She had to find her brother. And she knew exactly where to find him. If anyone knew, it was the men who were chasing her. So she decided to follow them. To remain undetected, she hid in one of the opposite side streets. Good enough to keep an eye on both the front entrance and the side streets of the hotel.

At 9am sharp, Sherlock and John reached the hotel where he had put Katie the night before. Even though he had been annoyed by Mycroft's power games, John still wanted to accompany them. He liked Katie very much and felt sorry for her story. So he had decided to help her too.  
The entrance had not changed compared to last night. There were a few more people here and there and suitcases were spread all over the place.  
The receptionist who had given them the room yesterday is no longer to be seen. Probably he had finished his shift. Sherlock decided to go straight to the lift, knowing where Katie's room was. 

"Excuse me Mister!", someone suddenly shouted. 

It was a young man, no more than 24 years old. He must have just finished his education. Sherlock noticed it was the receptionist from last night. Only this time he is wearing his everyday clothes. 

"I have something here for you from your companion last night. She apologises, but could not wait." 

He held the letter out to him. Sherlock looked at the letter suspiciously. The envelope had the hotel's logo on it, so she must have written it last night, so the letterhead will be from here too. 

"When did she give you this and what did the person look like?" Sherlock now asked.

"Uh, about 4am this morning, maybe 15 minutes past 4am. It was the same person who showed up here with you yesterday. Blonde hair, about shoulder-length, medium height and beautiful deep blue eyes that can captivate you," he almost panting. 

Sherlock could not help but grin when describing her eyes. Yes, they could really captivate you. 

'Okay, then it really was her,' he thought. 

The detective thanked him and took the letter. Before he could open it, he suddenly heard the cleaning staff say 

"Have you seen the room upstairs on the sixth floor? Terrible, everything is scattered all over the room. It looked as if someone had had a wild party up there".

Katie's room is on that floor, isn't it? Sherlock paused for a moment before going to the lift and up to the 6th floor, first of all he let the letter disappear into his coat pocket.  
John, who had witnessed all this and was slightly surprised by the letter, followed his friend.   
As Sherlock entered the 6th floor of the hotel, a strange feeling came over him. 

'I hope nothing has happened,' he thought and walked towards Katie's room. 

As he stood outside the room door, he noticed that it had been broken open. So it was really the room that was being talked about. Slowly he opened the door. He was presented with a sight of pure devastation and destruction. All over the place were the things from the hotel, the TV, which had been on the cupboard before, was now lying in a corner of the room, completely destroyed. The cushions, blankets and mattresses were slit open and the interior distributed throughout the room.

'They must have found it', it flashed through his mind. 

As he tried to bury his hands in his coat pocket, he felt the letter. The letter Katie had written to him.   
He took it out of his pocket, opened the envelope and took out the piece of paper. He unfolded it and immediately realised it was from this hotel as well. Then he began to read:

**"Dear Mr Holmes,**

**I could no longer be responsible for you and John being involved in any way and putting you and John in danger as well. I know you wanted to help me but I need to find my brother alone.**  
**Take the USB stick and give it to your brother. This is your new case. I am sure you will solve it!**

**I want to thank you and John again for everything!**

**Goodbye!**  
**Katie"**

'So she's gone and broken her promise,' he thought as he folded the paper back together and put it in the envelope.   
He also folded the letter before it disappeared again in his coat pocket. Sherlock had that strange new feeling again, and it annoyed him that he didn't know the answer. 

"At least the men didn't get her."

"What happened here and where is Katie?," asked John, who had arrived at the room and was now standing at the door.

Sherlock didn't reply a word, pushed past him and went back towards the lift. John looked at his friend in a slightly confused way. Then he took another look inside the room before following Sherlock back downstairs.   
Sherlock , outwardly calm, decided to show the stick to his brother and quickly typed a message to him. As he walked past the reception desk, he said, still typing and not looking up: 

"Room door 621 has been broken into. You should probably call the police." 

Then he disappeared. All that remained were a few puzzled staff members and John, who explained everything to them again in quick succession.


	7. Mycroft

Sherlock had just read the message from Katie and seen the devastation in her room when he and his friend were already in a taxi again, with only one destination.

"So she's gone?", John suddenly pulled him out of his thoughts.

"Obviously," he replied only as he stared out the window.

"Where are we going...", he could say no more than that when the taxi stopped and he was aware of where they were. 

In front of them stretched a building, ivory in colour and decorated with columns. The name pointed to a Greek ancient philosopher. John knew this place well, had he been here before. His friend obviously had something to settle with his brother Mycroft. Sherlock got out of the taxi and his friend followed him.  
Without announcing himself or knocking, the dark-haired man rushed into his brother's office.

"It was murder after all," he almost shouted. 

Mycroft, sitting at his desk and slightly irritated by his brother's visit, replied with a fake grin: "Brother, what brings you to me?

"The alleged suicide of Congressman R Bloom in Leeds a few weeks ago was murder and I can prove it," he grinned, waving the USB stick he got from Katie in Mycroft's face.

"What do you think?' the elder now asked.

"Yesterday I had a visit from a client who was a witness to the murder of this R. R Bloom. She gave me the memory stick that showed the actual murder."

Sherlock didn't tell him anything about saving her life, about her search for her brother and that she was being followed by some men with accents.

"Well", said Mycroft now, leaning back in his chair. "Where is your supposed witness?"

"She wanted to remain anonymous", was all he told him.

John, who witnessed all this and was now standing beside him, looked at Sherlock in surprise. But he waved away and signalled with a small hand movement that it would be so good if Mycroft didn't know anything.  
Of course Mycroft had seen the looks of the two of them, but he didn't want to go into it yet. He interpreted Sherlock to show him the stick and the supposed picture material. So the younger gave him the stick and the older one plugged it into his computer. There was only one file, so they didn't have to search long. They opened the file and froze. John, visibly curious, joined the two brothers.  
On the video you could see four men, (moment 4? Sherlock only knew about 3 men. Then it had to be Katie's brother,' he thought) and R. Bloom, kneeling on the floor and begging. One of the men held a gun to his temple. He yelled at him. But when the Lord did nothing, he pulled the trigger. Then all you could hear was a "What the hell!" before the video stopped.  
Mycroft, visibly nervous and slightly pale, let himself fall back into his chair. 

"I knew Richard Bloom very well. He was an exceptionally good... man". 

Mycroft seemed somehow affected by what had happened.  
"You see, I've told everyone it wasn't suicide. They wanted some vital information from him. But what information is that?" Sherlock now asked.

"Important information, that's all you need to know," waved Mycroft away before continuing, "But the data is encrypted. Even if they have it, they can never decipher it."

"Unless they have a criminal mastermind on their side," Sherlock suddenly explained.

"What...who do you mean?" Mycroft asked, horrified. 

But before the younger one could answer, Mycroft's phone suddenly rang.  
During the phone call, you could clearly see in his features that more bad news was to follow.

Sherlock, who was not unaware of this, now asked: "What is it? What has happened?"

"That was Amanda Bloom. The wife of Richard Bloom. She told me that her daughter Ava had been kidnapped and that they wanted the code to decrypt the files against their daughter's life. They are giving her 12 hours or they will kill her daughter", Mycroft explained.

John, who swallowed hard after this message, looked at Sherlock. Sherlock just stood there motionless before he addressed his brother:  
"Well, cards on the table now. What do they want and what does it have to do with Mr Bloom?"

Mycroft understood and knew that Sherlock and Dr Watson, having seen the video and having the alleged witness as a client, were somehow involved. So he decided to tell them everything.

"Richard Bloom was head of our military intelligence. He was mainly in charge of the organisation and also maintained contact with various dealers, weapons and so on. He also had important information from the dealers. If this data should fall into the wrong hands, then not only the security of these is at risk but the whole of England".

"An act of terrorism, then?", asked John. 

"Probably", it came only from Mycroft.  
"We must find these men and take the data from them," he continued.

"And what about the girl? Shall we let her die?", the blond asked now, completely horrified. 

"The girl will die, that's for sure. Amanda knew nothing of her husband's activities and without the actual data, we can't decipher them either," he said slightly unemotionally.

Angry at these words, John now snorted: "This is about a child. I don't understand her reaction! Sherlock, why don't you say something now?!"

"Are there any clues as to where we might find the men?" asked Sherlock, now released from his rigidity.

"Well, with this video," Mycroft explained, pointing to the monitor, "we already have pictures of the perpetrators' faces. I'll pass this on and have it checked.  
And Sherlock, I want you to stay out of this. And your client, if she even exists, is no longer your concern," he now instructed his younger brother.

Sherlock replied nothing more. Of course it wouldn't hold up. It had been an interesting case for him for a long time and he would be the only one who could solve the mystery anyway. After all, he knew more information about the men who did not reveal the video. A little grin formed on his face.  
Mycroft, who noticed this, looked at him once more and urged him to do so:

"Sherlock, I mean it! Stay out of this!"

But Sherlock just grinned, replied:  
"Goodbye, Mycroft" and disappeared from the office with John.


	8. Track

Katie was meanwhile sitting in a taxi which took her out of London. A few hours had passed after this nightly attack. To find her brother, she decided to follow the men who were chasing her.  
After she hid in one of the side streets, it didn't take long for the men to come back out of the hotel. As already suspected, they had split up. One came out the front of the hotel, while the other came from the same direction Katie had come from. So he must have taken the fire escape as well.  
For several hours she pursued the men across the city. No sign of her brother anywhere. 

Is it possible that they had noticed that they were being followed? Is that just to mislead?' she thought. 

She was about to give up, until then, after what felt like an eternity, the men got into a taxi and drove off. Katie also took her nearby taxi and pointed to follow the driver.  
Where were you going? And perhaps they were finally taking me to my brother?'

"I know you" she suddenly heard a voice in her mind. Shocked, she looked up and looked ahead, where the driver was sitting. 

"Didn't you go to this industrial estate yesterday with that dark-haired man? Are you feeling better again?"

And as if he could see the questioning expression on Katie's face, he immediately replied: 

"Your friend said, you had too much to drink and that's why you passed out."

Katie began to understand. "That wasn't my friend. He has no friends."

Yes, Sherlock was by no means the person for friends. His snide and ignorant ways, no one could stand him for long. But still, there was something about him that fascinated him. He was different last night. Somehow nicer and... more human. Strange feelings were running through her. She had the feeling that he was really sorry for the situation. But Sherlock Holmes and guilt?! No, there must be something else. I wonder what he would think of her message. Sherlock should have arrived at the hotel by now and realised that I was no longer there.  
It was still the best decision to go on his own. She didn't want John, and for some reason Sherlock, to be advised that he was in danger. Suddenly, still thinking of Sherlock, the driver brought her back to reality.

"Really? That's not how it looked to me yesterday." 

Katie, who didn't feel like talking to him about Sherlock at the moment, decided to change the subject. 

"You're a long way from home for a taxi driver, though? Shouldn't your shift be over long ago?"

"Double shift," he said, pointing to a picture in the front of the taxi. 

It showed him with a woman and a little girl and boy. They seemed happy and obviously had fun. At this sight, Katie was overcome with a trace of sadness. She would have liked to have had such happy memories with her family but fate had it different.

"Your family?" she asked instead. 

"Yes. You see, I would like to give my wife and children what they deserve and be happy. That's why I do double shifts now and then," the driver replied.

Katie, who somehow found it very touching how a father is so committed to his children, could not say anything more. Instead, she just smiled sincerely at him and let it go.

"Stop, please stop here," she suddenly shouted. 

They were now several kilometres outside the city. The landscape changed from high buildings to flat plains of green. Fields and forests everywhere. Only one road led out here. They were somewhere in the middle of nowhere. Katie wondered why the taxis were so far away from the city, but as long as he got his money, he wouldn't mind. And he needed the money, after all. Oh man, she doesn't want to know how much this taxi ride would cost her. Luckily she had a good paid job before she escaped and saved a lot of money. So at least she didn't have to worry about this.  
The taxi driver, visibly frightened by her sudden desire to stop, drove into a small junction right next to a forest. Katie had seen that the taxi turned off in front of her onto a small bumpy road. Surely they had arrived at their destination.  
She asked the taxi driver to drive into the next small side street and wait there. After all, she had to get away from here somehow. The taxi driver, a bit puzzled about her request, finally nodded and followed her wish. 

Katie was now on her way, which the taxi turned into. It didn't take long and she could already see a small house, similar to a farmer's house, from a distance. On the right side there was also a building. A little bit bigger than the residential building. Probably a shed or something. In the yard she saw the taxi. She slowly and carefully approached the vehicle.  
It was empty. Why empty? Where is the driver? What is sticking to the steering wheel?  
On closer inspection she could see some traces of blood on the steering wheel. Thousands of thoughts flashed through her mind. Something must have happened to him? Probably the men did something to him to leave no more witnesses or they didn't want to pay the money for the long drive?  
Katie, shocked by this sight but still determined to find her brother, took a deep breath and continued on towards the house.  
It was a cute little flat house. A bit outdated but in keeping with the charm of the area she was in. It looked uninhabited but not deserted. On the letterbox she couldn't see her name.  
An old abandoned house. Perfect to hide someone here. Or wasn't it abandoned at all? Did people still live here before, but they had to be cleared out of the way? Again and again thousands of pictures shot through her mind. How the men broke in, killed the family living here and then set up their hiding place here. 

Away with these thoughts. Away with them, I have to concentrate,' she now shouted to herself in her thoughts.

When she had regained her composure, she stepped towards the slightly open window in front of her. There were no curtains or drapes, so she could get a good look inside. She saw an old couch, a few individual chairs, a desk with a small TV and a laptop on it, and in the middle of the room, the men chasing her and the smaller man holding a gun to her head.

"What do you mean, you've lost her!", the smaller man suddenly shouted. 

At that moment, however, his telephone was already ringing.

"Hello?", he now asked.  
Katie unfortunately couldn't hear who the other caller at the end was.

"Yes, I think we have the data, but it seems to be encrypted somehow and is password protected. Short break.  
"Yes, we did. But we lost her." The caller must have screamed suddenly as the smaller man suddenly held the phone away from his ear.  
"We'll take care of it." Then there was silence. The caller must have hung up.

"Find that bitch and take her down," he yelled to the other men.  
"I'll take care of something else in the meantime!"

The three men quickly made their way to the door. Katie, who had noticed this, sought refuge in the nearby shed. This was her chance, she thought.


	9. Hostage

The banging of car doors and starting an engine signalled to her that the air was clean. So she walked back towards the house. She knew she had to hurry. The men might come back faster than she thought. So she went back to the window where she could listen to the conversation beforehand. It was an old window that had to be pushed up to open. But since it was already slightly open, she could open it completely with a strong jerk.  
She had to be quiet and careful. She didn't know if more people would be here.  
When she arrived at the house, she looked around briefly but carefully. There were three rooms. A kitchen, to the left of the window she came through. Where the men stood was, as she thought, the living room. Around the corner was a small, dimly lit corridor. On the right side, another room, probably the dining room. The interior was old-fashioned and looked very worn. At the end of the living room there was another door, probably leading to the cellar. Katie listened briefly to see if she could hear any sounds. Silence.  
As Katie was about to press the door handle, she suddenly heard a voice from inside the room. 

"HELLO?", she heard a trembling voice ask. Wait, was that a child?  
  
"Hello, my name is Katie. Who are you and are you alone or is there someone else with you?" she finally asked. No answer.

"Can you help me?", Katie suddenly heard from the other side.

"Yes I want to help you but the door is locked. Can you open it from inside?"

"No, I can't reach it."

"Okay, no problem. I'll be right back," she now replied in a calm voice.   
She knew that she was afraid.

A key. She had to find the key. But where is it hidden?, she asked herself. She stepped quickly into the kitchen. Searched all the drawers and cupboards. No key. Further on into the living room. A desk. She opened all the drawers and scanned the underneath until she suddenly stopped.  
In her hands she held a USB stick. It was not the one she had given to Sherlock. It had to be the one they were talking about on the phone earlier. Something enormously important seemed to be on it. Quick-witted and without thinking twice, she finally put it in her pocket. Maybe she could still use it?, it flashed through her mind.

"Hello? Have you found the key yet?", the voice from the room suddenly asked again.

Katie shook her head briefly to return to reality.   
Then it came to her mind. If you want to hide something, you should always do it in the most obvious place. She remembered that she had often hidden her room key in the place where her father had never looked. It would have been too obvious.  
Quickly, Katie went to the door where the child was locked in. She carefully scanned the frame and suddenly... There it was... the key.   
As she unlocked the door and entered the room she could see that the child, it was a little girl, probably 8 years old, was sitting on a chair. Her hands tied around the chair with a rope. Therefore she could not get to the door. It was a small shabby room. A small light flickered on the ceiling. The windows were darkened. In the middle was only a chair where the little girl was sitting. At the end of the room there was a bed and a cupboard.  
Katie quickly went to the girl and freed her from her bonds.

"Everything will be all right," she said gently as she opened the rope. "What's your name, anyway? Were you alone here the whole time or was there someone else trapped here with you?"

"Ava and no, I was alone all the time," the girl replied.

Katie, a little sad that her brother is not here: "Okay, come on, we have to go. I'll get you out of here!" and pulled the girl with him. 

As they left the room and entered the living room, she paused briefly.  
  
"You go to that window there" and pointed towards the window that was open. "I just have to do one more thing." 

The girl followed her instructions and went out the window to freedom. Katie went back to the desk where she had found the USB stick and pulled out a piece of paper. She knew that the stick and what was on it was valuable and that it was the only way she could possibly get her brother back.  
So she wrote a message to the kidnappers: 

**I have something you want!**  
**Hyde Park corner to Paddington, 8pm!**  
**And bring Adam with you!**

She then disappeared through the window where Ava was waiting for her.

"Come on, let's get out of here. There's a taxi waiting at the end of the path and it will take us away from here," she said, pulling Ava with her.  
  
When the taxi arrived, Katie signalled for her to get in. The taxi driver wondered about the new guest but said nothing. 

"Back to London, Miss?" he asked.

Katie did not really know what to do now. Ava needed urgent medical attention but she couldn't get to the hospital or the police. How could she explain that to them? There was only one person who could help her now. When he gave her the thought, she rolled her eyes for a moment, took a deep breath and then gave the taxi driver the address:   
"221B Baker Street, please"


	10. Back at Baker Street

Back at Baker Street again

"Does that mean they have an idea where or who the men are?" John now asked excitedly.

"Of course. Mycroft doesn't know yet that they are part of the Brazilian Mafia and are only here in England for a good reason."

"Yes, and where are they and where is the girl?" asked John, even more excited than before.

"To do that, I would first have to see the scene of the crime where she was abducted or have all the information about the case," Sherlock replied before continuing on: "And now make yourself a cup of tea. You are terribly nervous!"

John then disappeared into the kitchen, snorting.  
Sherlock knew that it would be difficult to get the information he needed, but not impossible. He knew who might be able to help him in this. He had never had to ask for help from anyone before, but this required the support of Scotland Yard. He picked up his mobile phone and dialled DI Lestrade's number when suddenly the doorbell rang. He didn't bother, Mrs Hudson would open the door. Then suddenly, there was a knock. Sherlock, who was still waiting for Lestrade to answer, opened the door in his mind's eye when he suddenly stopped.  
In front of him stood a little girl and looked at him questioningly.

"A child, what does a child want with me? John," he cried, the mobile phone still on his ear, "there is a child standing in front of the...! But before he could finish his sentence, he froze.

"Hello Mr Holmes!"

All of a sudden, on the penultimate step of the stairs, he saw a familiar face. 

"Ms Wilson, what and how...?" Was it possible the great detective was speechless?

John who was now also coming out of the kitchen and mumbling to himself: 

"Sherlock, what do you mean a child is here?" Running towards the door, he stopped abruptly when he saw the face of the young woman who came into her flat last night and from whom he thought she was already dead.

"Katie", he was visibly excited and met her to enter. 

Sherlock, who could not reach Lestrade, hung up again and stared at the woman who was now standing outside his flat. Katie thanked him and then pushed herself slightly past Sherlock, who was still standing there speechless. Their eyes met briefly and she had never been so close to him before. If he's really as good as he claims he is, he would definitely be able to hear her heartbeat now.  
Sherlock glanced into the now empty hallway for a brief moment before reflecting and closing the door.

"Would you like something to drink? I've just put on some tea," John asked the two women in the room.

"I'd love to, and my name is Ava by the way," the little girl replied.  
Katie began to tell them what had happened and where she had found her.  
'Ava? Where have I heard that name before?' , Sherlock now asked himself. He watched the little girl a little longer. She had long brown hair, a blue headband and was wearing a school uniform from an elite institution. She looked exhausted, quite pale and her inner surfaces under her hands showed marks of welts. Then he remembered his conversation with Mycroft.

"Are you Amanda Bloom's daughter?" he asked afterwards.

The little girl looked up and visibly her face lit up.

"This is my mummy. Is she all right?" she asked, slightly worried.

"Yes, she is fine. She's just very worried about you."

Katie, who had just been interrupted by Sherlock in her narrative, flashed at him briefly and continued angrily in Sherlock's direction: 

"May I continue, Mr Holmes?"

Sherlock, slightly irritated by her reaction, signalled with a slight hand movement that she should continue.

'What is it with this woman? Why does she keep snarling at me?' he thought, but for some reason was pleased to see Katie back safe and sound.  
By the time Katie finished her story, Ava was already asleep. It wasn't until the afternoon, but I guess it was all a bit too much for her. John, who saw the look on Katie's face, only replied that she would take her to his bed so she could rest.  
Now only Katie and Sherlock were left. Neither of them said anything. The silence was almost unbearable, so Katie began to break the silence.

"So", she began. 

The detective did the same to her: "So?"

"I see that you got my letter" and pointed to the envelope peeking out of his coat pocket.

"Yes" was the only thing he said.

"Well", Katie didn't really know what to say, let alone how to begin.

But before she could even say anything, the tall dark-haired man cut her off.

"Save your explanations. I don't want to know your reasons. You didn't keep your promise. And I see that you still haven't been able to find your brother. If you had waited, you could probably be holding him in your arms right now. But this way, well, he'll probably be dead by now," he explained in a cool tone, without taking his eyes off her. 

Katie just sat on the couch, stunned. Was Sherlock Holmes, the highly functional sociopath, as he called himself, hurt? His look seemed almost disappointed, somehow sad. But wait, what had he said?  
After Katie had finally regained her composure, she went on:  
"You... You...", she stammered "you arrogant and smug ass! How can you say something like that. Yes, I want to save my brother. Yes, maybe I should have accepted your help but I have a plan to find my brother again and I don't need you or your brother to do it! Besides, I did it because I didn't want anything to happen to you and John! 

Her eyes were glittering with anger but also because tears were slowly forming.  
Sherlock was about to say something back as she continued: 

"Stop it! You know what, you're right. You are a highly functional sociopath and I regret that you have come into my life!

She packed her things in a rage, threw a short note at his feet with the address of the men's hiding place on it and was just about to leave when John stepped back in the door.

"What's going on here?", he asked in horror. 

At the same time she and Sherlock declared, "I/ Ms Wilson was just leaving."

Katie looked angrily once more in the direction where Sherlock was standing now. He must have jumped out of his chair when she left.  
Then she turned to John once more:  
"Would you please see that Ava gets home and give her my love. The note has the kidnappers' address on it. Thank you for everything and I'm glad I got to meet you! I wish you all the best!" 

Then she gave him a short hug and finally stepped out the door.  
John, visibly confused by what was going on, looked at Sherlock: 

"Was that just like goodbye?"  
Sherlock was also startled by what she said, just shrugged her shoulders. 

"What happened here?" he asked afterwards. 

"Not now, John," he replied, before grabbing his coat and scarf and disappearing outside as well.

All that remained was a rather confused Dr John Watson.


	11. The plan

How could he say such a thing?' thought Katie as she stormed out of the black door in a rage. She knew that he kept his feelings private, that he often came across as arrogant and complacent towards his fellow human beings. But the fact that he was so icy cold shocked her. Actually, she thought that there was something between them. At first, like some of the others who worked with him, she was not very taken with him, but that evening, when he accompanied her to the hotel, she met a completely different Sherlock. He was very different from the way he was described. Attentive and somehow caring. He really wanted to help her and she trusted him. Trust, that was it. That was the mistake. All her life she found it hard to get involved with other people, to give them her trust. But with Sherlock, with him it was different. Sherlock awakened feelings in her that she thought were deeply hidden. She just could not yet interpret which ones they were.

"Such an arrogant ass," she murmured angrily as she walked along the street.

Unsuspecting that she was being followed.  
It was evening by now. Slowly the lights of the street lamps filled the city.  
One hour to delivery', she thought as she looked at her watch.  
It wasn't far to the meeting point, so she decided to get something to eat in a nearby bistro. Not far from Hyde Park she found a cute little shop where she bought a sandwich and coffee and went to one of the tables. From here she had a good view over the park and the agreed meeting place. The park was very busy. There were people everywhere. Some suits, who probably took this way home from work, others who devoted themselves to their sports activities or other people who simply relaxed in the meadow.  
A good place, here with all these people or witnesses, you couldn't do anything else to her or her brother`, she thought. The thought of her brother made her shine. At last she would be able to take him in her arms again and no matter what it took, she would do everything to save him. After all, he was her family. She always felt responsible for him and felt guilty that when he really needed her, there was nothing she could do. It was him who saved her life.

_What have you done, Adam? He was about to kill you, so I beat him to it!_  
_They stood in silence in front of a pool of blood and THE man who had his hands around Katie's neck and squeezed them tight._

The thought of it sent a chill down her spine. Yes, her brother had saved her from her own father.

_He was drunk as a skunk again and Katie was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Since she was in the middle of her studies and had no money for her own flat, she still lived at home. Her brother couldn't live under the same roof as this man and so preferred to live on the street. He knew that her father often fell off the wagon but none of the things he did to his sister. Katie had never told him anything about it. She didn't want to worry him, let alone see her brother do anything worse out of anger. Adam had always been very impulsive._  
_So one night her father, led by alcohol, took hold of her again. But when Katie, as always, tried to fight back, he became even angrier and began to beat and kick her. Lying on the floor, he pounced on her, grabbed her neck and squeezed hard. Katie thought then that it would be over now, until her father suddenly collapsed on her. There he stood - her brother Adam. He stood bent over him, a crowbar in his hand, blood dripping from it._  
_Katie could not really realise what had just happened. She was dazed. Eventually, however, she stood up and saw her father lying on the floor bleeding. She immediately went over to him and felt for his pulse. NOTHING. HE WAS DEAD._  
_Adam just stood there motionless, staring at the dead man lying in front of him. Katie knew it was self-defence and wanted to tell the police but Adam was scared and asked her not to call the police. But Katie refused and when she picked up the phone she suddenly heard a door slam. Her brother was gone, fled. She looked briefly at the door where he had just stormed out and finally called the police and the ambulance. When they arrived, the ambulance could only determine that her father had died. She told the police that her father had surprised a burglar, who then knocked him down. She hid the strangulation marks on her neck with a thin cloth._  
_There was no trace of Adam.Every now and then he would call her or leave messages. The period of time in which the news came, became bigger and bigger with the time. First it was days, then weeks, then moments. And then one day she heard nothing more from him. She didn't know where he was or if he was even still alive._  
_Then after 5 years a sign of life. One night he went to her flat. Katie couldn't live there any more after that incident with her father and so she looked for a good paying job in addition to her studies and moved into her own flat in Leeds. She wanted to leave everything behind and start a new life in the city._  
_His visit came as a surprise but for a very specific reason._

_"Katie, you have to help me. I've really fucked up," he begged her. He looked quite worn out and emaciated._

_"What's wrong, what happened?", startled at the sight of him but not at all angry because he hadn't checked in for years, she implored him to come in._

_"Surely you remember that I had spent a lot of time on the street at that time. Money was getting scarcer and scarcer and at some point I was forced to do certain things.“_

_"What kind of things?", Katie now asked in shock._

_"I," he stammered, "Well, I started selling drugs."_

_Katie, stunned by his testimony, took a deep breath before turning to him:_  
_"Yes, so what?" she asked, slightly annoyed but also worried._

_"My business was going really well. I had many, well paying customers..." Katie had to sigh annoyed at this sentence. Business, then. I see._

_"Yes, and then one day, there were three men They weren't from around here. They were part of an organisation in South America and were able to gain a foothold here in England with help. The main business of this organisation was mainly the sale of drugs. Well, they had heard about me and my... let's say... success and wanted to recruit me. They promised to get me off the streets if I worked for them.“_

_"So now you're a drug dealer for a Brazilian drug mafia?!", she added._

_"Yes but that's not all," he continued. "Well, I worked for these men for several years. They had really not promised me too much. I got my own flat, my own car and was often taken to meetings. I felt visibly comfortable and accepted."_

_"ADAM", she cried now. "You're not serious, are you?!"_

_"You must understand that after that incident with our father, I had withdrawn strongly. I couldn't talk about it with any of my friends, but I wanted to. Too scared that they would go to the police. And then the men came and at some point, as they bragged about their deeds, it burst out of me. They did not rat me out, on the contrary, I felt acceptance."_

_"AND I`M PROBABLY NOBODY?!", she cried now. Horrified by what he just said. She had lied especially about him._

_"Of course I did, but I didn't want to burden you with this any more. You had already experienced too much with that bastard. And besides, they became like a family to me._

_She snorted angrily: "YOU CAN`T BE SERIOUS! I AM YOUR FAMILY AND NOT THEM!!"_

_Without going into it, he continued: "Anyway, they wanted to officially accept me into their organisation at some point. In return they told me about their next plans. Their next assignment was to blackmail a member of the military intelligence. They want some kind of data that can be used to control the entire military. You have to know that the men also have a lot of weapons and will stop at nothing and I sense that it will not only be blackmail. I... I didn't want to get involved in this. I also had a bit of morality. But when I told them this, they threatened me and threatened to go to the police with my story.“_

_Sighing, he put his hands in front of his face. "What am I supposed to do now? I don't want to kill anybody, not again!"_

_"When is all this going to happen?" she asked and stroked his back comfortingly._

_"Tomorrow"_

_Katie was thinking, not really knowing what to do or say._

_"You have to go to the police with this," she finally said._

_"I can't! Then I'll go to jail or the men will kill me," he sobbed._  
_Katie didn't want them to kill him by any means but neither did she want an innocent man to die._  
_"Look, I have an idea! You don't have to go to the police, I'll do it."_  
_Even before he could say anything, she stopped him with a gesture of her hand and continued: "I have my day off tomorrow. You will write me the address. I will come there, hide somewhere and take the men in their project.Before that I will give the police a little tip. You just have to make sure that you stay in the background or make yourself somehow unrecognizable. And as soon as you hear the sirens, get out of there!"_

_Adam had calmed down a bit in the meantime and listened intently to his sister._  
_"But what if they discover you?"_

_With a playful roll of her eyes, she replied to him: "So please. For the most part I was able to hide from our father when he had drunk too much again. I guess that would be easy, since they would be distracted."_

_After they had discussed everything else, he said goodbye to his sister, not without turning around and taking her in his arms. "Take care, sis!"_

_The next day everything went as planned. Adam told his sister her address. She made her way there and quickly found a suitable place to hide. She found herself in a more upscale part of Leeds. The house itself was of impressive size. It was set in white stone with large windows. Behind the house there was a small but impressive garden. What surprised Katie was that there were no security guards or other employees anywhere._  
_Strange, such a big house should have employees, she thought._  
_What she didn't know was that the employees had already been put out of action by some means. After walking around the house for a while, they could already see the men and her brother. He stood, as agreed, a little aside. She quickly informed the local police and then started her recording. She could not hear what was being said but the smaller man pointing a gun at his victim seemed angry. Katie had to be careful not to tremble with nervousness, otherwise the recordings would become blurred. In the background she could see that another man and Adam were looking for something. Probably the data he was talking about yesterday._  
_´Where are the police?`, she thought, looking at her watch, the camera still pointed at what was happening in front of her. The next thing she saw was that the tall man who was searching for the data with Adam came back with something in his hand. And then, then everything happened very quickly. The smaller man with the gun, picked up the something and pulled the trigger._  
_Oh no, it was too late, she thought._  
_But before she could go on filming she suddenly heard a voice: "What the hell!?"_  
_A tall man dressed in black suddenly came rushing in her direction. Katie ran as fast as she could, the mobile phone still firmly in her hand._  
_"The bitch was filming us!" she heard screaming. Then finally in the background, the approaching sirens of the police...Unfortunately too late._

Shortly after that day, her brother contacted her again. She had managed to escape because of the approaching police. He told her that they found out that he was her brother and that she was now in danger. After that she heard nothing more from him.

Katie, who was still sitting in the small bistro, had to swallow hard as she recalled the past.  
Everything went wrong then. She should have gone to the police but she wanted to protect her brother. How she had come up with this stupid idea, she still didn't understand. But soon, soon everything will be over.  
A quick glance at her watch reveals that it was already 20 minutes before the agreed time. Outside it was already dark. She packed her things, stowed the stick she had stolen from the house safely in her inside jacket pocket and another one in her jacket pocket, took another deep breath and finally went out the door.  
She then crossed the road that would lead to Hyde Park and made her way to the meeting place. She was so excited that she did not notice that all the people she had been watching had already disappeared. No one was to be seen any more.  
Only when she arrived at the agreed place did she notice the silence. It was almost uncanny. The path was only dimly lit. Some lamps seemed to be broken. Katie decided to go to a place where there was at least some light. She was completely alone. She had definitely not thought of it that way...


	12. Black

Nervously she now stepped from place to place. Still 5 minutes. What was she doing here? She didn't really have a chance, she thought.  
When suddenly... out of nowhere, someone pulled her to him and shut her up. It was too dark to see anything.

"Shh, don't scream." 

That voice. Could it be? And as her eyes slowly got used to the darkness, she recognised the figure that was just holding her mouth shut.

"Sherlock?!", she asked as he took his hand away again.

"What are you doing here? Wait, have you been following me?" She seemed upset.

Yeah, he'd been following her. Because she said something that made him sit up and take notice. During her outburst of rage against him, she screamed that she had a plan to save her brother. And then the goodbye to John. She was strange, yes she was very strange. Only someone who was planning not to come back would say goodbye like that. No matter how. It was clear to him that in the house where she found little Ava, she must have found something that she wanted to use as an exchange for her brother. A completely insane plan, he thought. But I guess that's what you do when you love a human being.  
In any case, he had no time to explain the previous situation to John. After all, he had to catch up with her, watch her and know where she was going. He would simply explain everything to him later.  
On his "pursuit" he had to keep thinking about what she was really throwing at him. Katie wanted to protect him and John, so she ran away. She didn't want anything to happen to either of them. She was so careful and always concerned for the welfare of the people around her. And he, as cold as ever, replied that her brother was already dead because of her mistake. But he was not cold, not this time. He was hurt. She had hurt him. Again this feeling came over him. That one feeling when he looked into her eyes, when he saw her smile but also when she was sad. For years he had managed to keep his feelings separate from the rest of his being but since John and now Katie came into his life it didn't work anymore. But one thing is certain: she was right. He was a bastard.  
But for some reason he didn't want her to think of him that way. So he decided to follow her. 

"Do you really think you can save your brother this way?" he asked her, looking at her forcefully.

"I don't see how that concerns you. You think he's already dead," she replied angrily. 

Annoyed, he had to sigh: "I know how that sounded and maybe my words were wrongly chosen but what you are trying to do will not work.

She looked at him in shock, but before she could say anything back, she was disturbed by the ringing of a bell from a nearby church. 

Eight o'clock. It was time.  
Before she turned away from Sherlock, she turned to him once more:  
"You want to help. I'll tell you how you can help", reached into her inner jacket pocket, took his hand and put the USB stick in there. "Take this, take this to your brother and go now!"

Then she turned around again and walked along the same path she had walked before.  
It didn't take long before she saw the three men she knew from the hall and the house outside the city from the dark. But where was her brother?  
The men, now about 4 metres away from her, stopped. 

"Ms. Wilson, you really seem to long for death," cried the smaller one, pulling out his gun. "Where is the stick?" he yelled further.

"I want to see my brother first," she also shouted.

With a small hand movement he signalled to the other two: "Bring him here!

While they waited, he continued: "You have chosen a nice place. Too bad that there are no more people here and that you can watch you die! You could have just let it go, not got in our way any more, but this is how you signed your death sentence! And where is your detective who is supposed to save her?", he grinned.

At least she believed it, as she couldn't really see his face in the darkness.

"So, where is the stick?", he continued.

"In a safe place," she replied.

But before he could continue, he was interrupted. The men were back by now. In front of them they dragged an almost lifeless body and threw it hard to the ground. 

"ADAM!" cried Katie. 

He seemed conscious, because when he heard his name, he briefly straightened his head.  
When he saw his sister there in the dim light, he screamed: 

"KATIE! Don't do it!"

"I want to see him! Bring him to me," she cried again.

The somewhat bigger man, who was standing left of the smaller one, grabbed him and dragged him to the middle. "That's close enough!"

Katie immediately ran to her brother to hug him. She was shocked. What have they done to him. His face was covered in blood, his right eye swollen. There was blood all over his body. His arms were cut.

"Adam, I am so glad you are alive! What have they done to you?", she sobbed.

"Katie, look at me. You mustn't give them the data! I know those men. As soon as you give them the stick, they will kill me first and then you! He must not win!"

"Who mustn't win? Who are you talking about?" she asked him in surprise.

"Listen, when I was a part of this organisation, I heard our boss (looking at the smaller man) talking to a man about this data once. He seems to be their employer and made sure they got a foothold here in England. His name is...  
Moriarty."

"That's enough now," cried the man behind him and pulled him back with him, next to the man in the middle.

"Please Katie, you mustn't give him the stick!" Adam yelled on.

"Enough now, give me the data!" cried her boss now.

Katie was still kneeling where she had held her brother in her arms seconds before. But determined to save her brother, she finally stood up. Her eyes sparkled with rage. Then she reached into her jacket pocket and took out the USB stick she had previously stowed inside and slowly moved towards the men.

"NO, DON'T DO IT! KATIE, PLEASE!", her brother yelled further.

"I am sorry. I have to do it!" she sobbed, moving further in the direction of the men.  
But then, all of a sudden - A SHOOT!

Everything around Katie went black. The voices she could hear clearly before were only muffled and it seemed as if they were moving away. Then everything was quiet.


	13. No memories

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, here comes the next chapter ;)  
> If you like the story, I would be very happy about your comments or thoughts about it :)

A month has now passed since the terrible incident that occurred in Hyde Park. The police have never been able to arrest the men.

Sherlock and John were on their way to the cemetery. They walked silently side by side. It didn't take long before they were in the right place. Next to the grave stood a man in black clothes and white collar. Another person, kneeling in front of the grave, was crying. This person also wore black clothes. Other people could not see the two of them, did not know the person standing on the gravestone, but nobody else did and there were no other relatives.   
Sherlock, who had just arrived at the grave, looked at the person who was now standing next to him and then pulled her firmly into his arms.

"It was not your fault. There was nothing you could do about it, Katie" and looked deep into her eyes. There was so much pain and sadness in her eyes.

"He had chosen it for himself and saved you! I'm sure he doesn't want you to suffer like this.

Katie was visibly touched by what Sherlock told her and that he tried so hard to comfort her. At that thought a little smile fell on her lips.  
Sherlock was right, her brother had saved her life.

  
**One month earlier**

Katie was about to give the stick to the men who didn't know she was giving Sherlock the right one and only held a copy of the original in her hand, when suddenly her brother grabbed the man's gun, whispered a short "I'm sorry" and then shot himself in front of everyone.   
After that, Katie remembered nothing. 

She only woke up in the hospital. The person who was sitting next to her bed had fallen asleep. But she didn't know the person. It was a man with blond hair. 

"Where am I here? What has happened?"

The blond man who was sitting by her bed opened his eyes, tired.

"Katie, you're awake. How are you?" he asked.

Visibly confused, the young woman stared at him. "Who are you and how do you know my name?"

The blond man, slightly puzzled by her question: "I am John. We have known each other for a few weeks. My friend Sherlock saved your life."

"Sorry, I don't know any Sherlock and I don't know you."

John sighed, until suddenly a female doctor entered the room.

"Oh, and you are?", the doctor asked, stunned.

John, who was still sitting by Katie's bed, stood up, reached out his hand to her and said, "Dr John Watson, hello".

"Oh, you're a doctor?" she now asked interested. 

"Yes, military doctor but after I was wounded I came back and now I work in a small practice not far from here"

"Oh, how nice," she smiled now. 

Did the doctor just flirt with the blond man? Katie, who was still sitting in her bed, didn't understand anything anymore.

"Could you come outside the door for a moment," asked the doctor and held the door open for him.

John went through the door and then turned back to her, "What is it?

"Are you a relative or a close relative of Ms. Wilson?" John shook his head.

"As far as I know, she doesn't have any next of kin anymore" and looked a little sad.

"But my friend and I are close friends and the only ones she has left."

"Oh, you mean the big gentleman that Miss Wilson brought in yesterday?"   
He nodded with a smile. 

"Okay, look, I shouldn't be telling you this, but since you're a doctor too... Ms. Wilson has retrograde amnesia, caused by a hard blow to the head or traumatic experience. In her case, I'm guessing two. A head injury, except for a small laceration on her cheek, was not detected. She cannot remember the last 2 weeks. Do you have any idea what might have happened to her?" 

"No, but I can find out," replied the blond.

"She is stable enough to go home. Her memories will come back sooner or later but she needs a lot of rest now. Do you know if there is someone besides you who could take care of her?"

"No, as I said. She has no family or other relatives. But she can stay with us for a while. We will take care of her," he replied.

"Okay. Since you are also a doctor, I think it is okay. I'll just get her papers. Will you please tell her that she can go home?"

Smiling, he nodded before turning back towards the door. He quickly sent a message to Sherlock:

_**She has woken up, but can't remember anything.** _  
_**I'll come home with her in a minute.** _  
_**John Watson** _

Then he went back into the room where Katie was still sitting in her bed, visibly confused.  
"You are now being discharged from the hospital," he said to her.  
"Okay thanks but where am I going to go? I don't even know where I am here, let alone if I live anywhere?" she whimpered.

"You're staying with us for now, with me and Sherlock," he smiled at her.

Katie didn't really understand but apparently she and this John were friends. And what about this Sherlock? Who was he?

"Um, John? I don't know what we are," he pointed at her and him "but I'd like to get dressed now.

"Oh, yes, of course. I'll wait outside the door, then, shall I?" John understood immediately and went straight out of the room.

After about five minutes the door opened and Katie stepped out.  
Smiling, John held his arm out to her. She watched him sceptically before she finally hung up.

"And where are we going now?" she asked.

"Baker Street" he smiled and pulled her with him.


	14. Unknown faces

As the streets in London were once again terribly crowded, they did not arrive in Baker Street until an hour later. Katie had said nothing the whole trip and looked silently out of the window. It was late afternoon and she was exhausted. All she really wanted to do was sleep. But first she wanted to know what this Sherlock was all about.

"Here we are", a voice suddenly sounded. Katie, staring out of the window, deeply absorbed in her thoughts, was startled for a moment.

John paid the taxi driver before he helped Katie out of the taxi. She seemed visibly exhausted, so he held out his arm again, which she accepted with thanks.  
This door? I've seen this door before, she thought as John let go of it for a moment to unlock it.  
As she entered the somewhat dark room, she immediately heard a friendly voice from the door opposite.

"Yoo-hoo, John! Well, who's her companion?" and looked curiously at Katie.

"Oh, hello Mrs Hudson. This is Katie Wilson. I've just come from the hospital with her. She'll be our guest for a few days," he told her.

"Oh, child, you look so pale. I hope it's nothing serious? Would you like some tea?" she asked, stroking her arm tenderly.

Nodding, Katie accepted her offer. Somehow she liked this woman. She was so friendly and warm.

"Okay, then I'll bring your tea upstairs as soon as it's ready" she smiled and disappeared back into her flat.

"Yes Katie, this is our landlady Mrs Hudson but very important, she is not our housekeeper. So she says but she brings us tea every day anyway".

Now John had to laugh but Katie didn't really understand why. But not to disappoint him, because he had apparently just made a joke, she finally grinned at him.

"Okay, let's go" he said and slowly pulled her with him. 

But suddenly Katie stopped abruptly on the stairs and listened. music. Someone was playing a violin with a lot of feeling. John, who had seen Katie's questioning look: 

"This is Sherlock. He plays his violin day and night."

Katie nodded understandably and then went on upstairs. In a moment she would meet this Sherlock. She was a little nervous. According to the hospital staff, a dark-haired, tall man had brought her to the emergency room. And since John and this Sherlock were probably the only ones who knew her, it had to be this Sherlock.  
Slightly nervous, she increased the pressure on John's arm. 

"Never fear. Sherlock is a bit... especially in a certain way but secretly a nice person," he smiled encouragingly to her.

"You can come in and you don't have to talk about me outside the door," it now came from the room behind the door.

John just rolled his eyes and sighed before pulling Katie with him and opening the front door.  
"So this is our flat. And he, over there by the window, that's Sherlock," pointing to the tall, dark-haired man.

"You took me to the hospital yesterday, didn't you?" she asked.

Sherlock, still busy with his violin, paused briefly before, without turning away from the window, he replied, "Good afternoon, Ms Wilson".

"Did you just play here?" she asked curiously.

"Obviously"

"It sounded beautiful but also somehow... sad. Are you sad about something or someone?"

"Bullshit. I'm never sad." while his look said something else.

Of course he felt this feeling. He was sad that he couldn't help her. He was sad that she had lost the last of her family and was now all alone. And he was sad that she did not remember him. Well, maybe the last one was a stroke of luck too. Had she also forgotten how much he had hurt her with his words. For some weeks now, feelings had suddenly been overwhelming him, feelings he couldn't deal with and that only because of the company of John and her.

"Somehow I don't believe you...but what do I know. But I thank you for letting me stay here for now," she finally said.

Sherlock glanced only briefly over his side in her direction. 'I think you know exactly,' he thought, but finally just said:  
"This was John's idea. Thank him for it!"

Then he turned back to his violin playing.  
At the same moment Mrs Hudson came in with her tea.

"Yoo-hoo, I'm bringing the tea in here", rattling the tray. 

John immediately took it from her and gave Katie a cup as well. Then Mrs Hudson turned to her again and asked curiously: 

"And have you met Sherlock? Don't blame him for what he says. Basically, he's a nice guy," and nudged Katie lightly with his elbow in the side.  
She must smile immediately. John had to smile too.  
Only Sherlock was annoyed once again. 

"Mrs Hudson, don't you have some shopping to do or something?" he almost shouted.

The elderly woman, slightly angry at his outburst, said goodbye to Katie and John with a slight roll of her eyes.

"You are welcome to sit down," John offered her, pointing to the couch. Gratefully and with her tea in her hand, she finally let herself fall onto the couch.

"Oh, and you would sleep in my room while I sleep on the couch".  
"That is not necessary. I don't want to cause any trouble. The couch is perfectly adequate for me" she smiled at him.

"Oh it's no trouble, that's all right," he replied.

"Just make up your minds now. You can't even listen to this," an annoyed Sherlock raised his voice and moved towards the kitchen.

With an apologetic look at Katie he disappeared into the kitchen.  
Somehow she amused them both. John was a really nice and caring man and Sherlock yes he was special. 

"What was that all about?" angrily John stepped into the kitchen.

"What do you think?"

"Well, you, your whole demeanour! You didn't even look at her when she asked you a question. And then her comment, that would be my idea, that she should thank me," he twisted his eyes in annoyance as he sat down on the chair opposite his friend.

"Why, it was your idea after all. Why should she thank me for it then?" The dark-haired man didn't understand what John wanted from him now.

"Sherlock" the blonde leaned over the table "she just watched her brother- the last of her family- die (he whispered) and she can't remember anything about it. I thought you liked her?"

Visibly amazed at this phrase, Sherlock tore his eyes open.  
"Like...what?"

"You don't have to be a master detective like Sherlock Holmes to realise that. The way you always look at her and the way you behave after she's told you what she thinks, speaks volumes. Now, just be a bit less of an ass and have a chat with her," he said and pushed him decisively out of the kitchen.

But when he entered the living room and his gaze fell on the couch, he had to realise that she was already asleep. Smiling, his gaze rested on the sleeping person on the furniture before he went to her, threw a blanket over her and pushed a pillow under her head. He gently brushed her hair, which fell into her face, aside. For a short time he still held his hand against her cheek. Then he turned away from her and withdrew to his bedroom.


	15. Sad

The next morning

Bathed in sweat and with a scream Katie suddenly woke up from her sleep. That nightmare again. The same as last night. There you were, three strange-looking men in black suits and a young man sitting in front of her pleading. A gun in her hand. And then, all of a sudden at some point, she pulled the trigger. 

"Good morning. Had a nightmare?", she suddenly heard her say.

For a moment she had to orientate herself where she was and locate the voice she just heard. Outside it was still dark and so the room was also shrouded in darkness.

"Who is there?" she asked into the darkness when suddenly a bright beam of light illuminated the room.

Now she could see who had spoken to her. Sherlock was sitting in his armchair and had turned on a small lamp.

"Sherlock, what are you doing up so early?", she asked in surprise. 

It must have been only 3 o'clock in the morning.

"It's actually 4:15am in the morning, and I haven't slept."  
She wondered why he told her the time, since she hadn't asked what time it was.

"Were you sitting in that armchair all night?" she asked in a slight shock.

"No, don't worry. I haven't been watching you all night - like a stalker. The way you're startled right now, one might think so," he said, grinning slightly.

"Oh okay, and what do they usually do when they're not sleeping?"

"Well, normally (he stressed), I play my violin, but since you're sleeping here, I can't."

"Are you mad at me in any way? Because that sounds like this."

"No, no, it's okay." 

He didn't want to antagonize her again. But what she said then really surprised him.

"You can play if you want to. It doesn't bother me. I don't mind listening." she smiled at him.

"Are you sure?" he asked again, but was already on his way to his violin.

Katie just nodded and snuggled into the blanket.  
Sherlock really had a clue. Everything he played sounded beautiful. She had the feeling that he could only really express himself with the help of his instrument. Somehow this made Katie sad. Sherlock, who, of course, had noticed this because he had his eyes on Katie all the time, stopped briefly.

"Is everything all right?" he followed up.  
Only now did Katie notice that tears were running down her cheeks. She quickly wiped them away. She didn't want to cry in front of a stranger. It was embarrassing for her.

"What, no. It's all right," she smiled artificially.

"But?", he asked curiously.

"Well, well, they play really beautifully and have a real talent for it but somehow it sounds... sad. I have the feeling that something is bothering them and they can only express it through their music. And that makes me sad. No one should keep their feelings behind the scenes. No one should have to hide their feelings. I know what I am talking about.  
I, for example, I don't know what love is. I have never been allowed to experience the feeling of love. My family never cared about me. Okay, yes I have a brother..." briefly she faltered... "whom I love above all else and who loves me but I could never experience that feeling of true love, that feeling of being in love, of butterflies in my stomach. Never share this feeling with anyone. Yes well, I have had relationships, many superficial relationships but never have I felt the real feeling of what love is. I was never allowed to show feelings. Feelings were weak. Whoever has feelings is weak, according to my father. I was also never allowed to cry in his presence, which made what he did to me even more difficult. I kept my feelings hidden for a long, long time, until I lost them. Okay, this sounds stupid now. I meant that I distanced myself more and more from my fellow human beings and became unapproachable.  
And... held on to them again... I don't know why I'm telling you all this" and held her hands in panic in front of her face. 

Oh God, it was embarrassing!

Sherlock, on the other hand, was amazed at what she was saying, her openness, this to someone so foreign to her, and she was right. He had the feeling that she could really understand him. That she could see his true self. Just like his friend John.  
He had to smile when he saw her reaction and she hid behind her hands. Then he stood up and slowly approached the person sitting there on the couch, embarrassed. As he stood in front of her, he knelt down so he could look her in the face. Then he took her hands off her face and looked deep into her eyes.  
A smile now caressed his lips. 

"I thank you" leaned forward and breathed a little kiss on her cheek. 

Then he disappeared into his bedroom again.  
Katie, surprised by his answer, breathed a short "You're welcome" afterwards before she sank back into the couch and closed her eyes again.


	16. Back

It was around 9am when John entered the kitchen. Sherlock was already sitting at the breakfast table with his second coffee and the daily paper in his hand. He had not really slept, as so often. For far too long, he had to think about what Katie had said.

"Good morning," the blond said yawning as he entered the kitchen. John had his day off today. 

"Good morning, sleep well?" Sherlock now asked. John was a little surprised at his friend's good mood. 

"New case or why are you in such a good mood?", he replied slightly sceptically, scrutinising the detectives very closely.

But Sherlock didn't say anything, but held the newspaper even higher up in front of his face.  
John had just poured himself a coffee and was now sitting opposite the detective. His eyes still fixed on Sherlock. He shook his head briefly, as if he was   
want to wipe away thoughts and continued:   
"What does our overnight guest actually do? Is she still sleeping?"

"I have no idea. About an hour ago, all I heard was that the TV was on.

"Ah okay. And you didn't even look at her or ask her if she wanted some breakfast as well?" the blond man now asked.

But Sherlock didn't say anything again, he just rolled his eyes annoyingly.

"Tell me, did you play your violin again tonight? But you already know that Katie is sleeping on the couch and she needs rest," he now reminded.

"She had asked me to, John" was the only thing he said. 

But he didn't tell him anything about their nightly conversation. At least not yet. 

"Okay, and in the meantime, have you been able to talk to her?"

But before the detective could answer, they suddenly heard soft whimpering from the room next door.   
Both looked each other questioningly in the eyes before getting up, quietly pushing open the kitchen door and looking carefully around its corner.  
There on the couch sat Katie. The blanket over her shoulders, her legs pulled against her body and crying. The news was on the television programme.   
The newscaster was telling us about a terrible incident that happened in Hyde Park the night before last. The police found a young man, dead. So far there is no trace of the perpetrators. However, they are certain (through the tip from a fellow citizen) that they belong to a foreign group.  
  
"My brother", she whimpered. Tears were constantly running down her face.  
  
John, who immediately knew what had happened, went to her immediately, sat down next to her and finally took her in his arms.

"Ssshhh," he said in a soothing tone, gently stroking her back.  
"I... I remember everything again.....My brother...." she continued whimpering "he took his own life to save mine! It is my fault that he is dead now!"   
Now she couldn't hold herself back any longer and cried even harder into John's shoulder. John pulled her tighter and continued to stroke her back, reassuring her. 

"It's not your fault. Never tell yourself that."

Sherlock, who couldn't cope with this outburst of emotion, just stood there in the room and looked frozen. He didn't know what to do or say in these situations without perhaps making it worse. Fortunately he had John. He always knows what to do in such moments, he thought as he kept staring at the two of them in front of him.  
After John noticed that Katie was slowly calming down, he asked if she would like a calming cup of tea first.  
Katie nodded, her eyes on the floor.   
Just as he was about to head for the kitchen, he turned to Sherlock again.

"Talk to her," he whispered and then disappeared.

Now only the two of them were left in the room. Sherlock, the block of ice and Katie completely desperate and sad. He was still standing where he had been a few minutes ago, not knowing what to do now.  
When suddenly Katie looked up, saw him and got up from the couch.

'Oh no, now she's getting away. I blew it,' he just thought.

But Katie didn't run out of the room. On the contrary, she moved towards Sherlock. As she stood in front of him, she looked deep into his eyes once more and then wrapped her arms around him.  
Sherlock was still frozen. He seemed nervous and stiffened up more and more. 

"Just let it happen," Katie said in a reassuring tone.

Sherlock, slowly relaxing, took another deep breath before also putting his arms around the small, petite person holding him and pulling them tighter. And there it was again. That strange feeling.   
Katie, who had laid her head on his chest, could clearly hear his heartbeat. He was nervous but somehow this pounding sound in his chest calmed her down.   
John, who had just come out of the kitchen, paused abruptly and watched this heart-warming scene appear before him. He smiled and seemed happy for his friend. Yes, this woman was special and apparently awakened a side in Sherlock that had previously been deeply hidden.   
He watched the two of them for a moment before deciding not to spoil this special moment for them and quietly went back into the kitchen. There he closed the door again as carefully as possible and sat back down at the table with a cup of tea. 

For a while the two of them had been standing arm in arm in the room. Neither of them seemed to want to end this as quickly as possible. Sherlock relaxed more and more and enjoyed the warmth that she radiated and that spread within him. Katie knew she couldn't expect more from the detective. But did she want more at all? After all, she knew nothing about things like love and being in love. But in his arms she felt safe and secure. She had to admit to herself that she felt something for this detective.   
Finally, after a few minutes, she suddenly raised her head and looked into his eyes again. Only now could she really see his eyes. These beautiful eyes, which appeared green or blue depending on the incidence of light. There was now so much warmth in them and a small part of...was it astonishment?   
Yes Sherlock was amazed. Amazed at what was happening here and what he felt.  
Silently, almost whispering, she turned to him: "You...you saved my life. Again. And this time... this time I thank you for it!" and smiled slightly to him.   
But Sherlock said nothing. He kept looking into her eyes. Then he carefully put his hands to her cheeks and gently brushed the last tears from her face with his thumbs. He noticed that her pupils were visibly dilated and her breathing quickened before he slowly bent down towards her. Just before her lips could meet, she suddenly recoiled a little.  
This time it was him calming her, his face still close to hers: 

"Just let it happen!"

And then he put his lips on hers. He knew that it was hard for her to let herself fall. He wanted to put as much feeling as he could into that kiss.  
Katie was surprised at his reaction, yet she was grateful to him for it. She felt a strange tingling in her stomach, was it those so-called butterflies in your stomach that you feel when you are in love?   
Yes. Katie felt something for this man. She finally had to admit that to herself. She was in love. But she also knew that he could never feel that way. So she decided to just savour the moment. She felt safe.   
Her hands finally found their way to his neck and pulled him closer. Sherlock, surprised by her gesture, put his hands around her waist and pulled them tightly against her body. Then he asked to be let in with his tongue, which Katie was only too happy to grant him. The kiss became increasingly intense. For both knew that they had found each other someone they could let themselves fall with.   
Neither of them thought of stopping, but a quick clearing from the corner suddenly scared them apart.

"Oh excuse me. I didn't mean to disturb you" pointed to both of them "but I think you two might be interested", John said embarrassedly, holding his mobile phone in the air.

Sherlock, who was still pulling Katie and holding her by the waist, now looked at John. Katie looked more towards the floor. She was visibly uncomfortable.

"That... That was just Lestrade," he stammered still embarrassed. 

He had just disturbed them both at an intimate and apparently special moment for Sherlock. 

"He said that they were at the address Katie gave us and that they found three men of foreign descent there Dead. Shot in the head with velvet."

When Katie heard this, she thought it was finally over and breathed a sigh of relief. And as if Sherlock could read her thoughts, he looked down at her for a moment and smiled encouragingly.

"So what?" asked Sherlock, holding Katie, unknowingly, still firmly in his arms.  
John cleared his throat briefly before continuing: 

"And...inside one of the men was a knife. Right in the heart. And on this one a note. On this one it said:  
**This was only the beginning, Mr. Holmes. You'll hear from me!**

"Moriarty?" Katie whispered to him. 

Sherlock, who had heard this, glanced at Katie in horror. 

"What did you just say?"

"My brother said that the men were working for a man called Moriarty. He must have killed them," she finally explained.

Sherlock's face lit up more and more. 

"He's back!" 

Then he turned, grinning, to his friend, who returned his gaze slightly annoyed and both at the same time: 

"The game is on!"

  
The end?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, that was her. My first FF. I would never have thought at the beginning that it would be so long after all. :D I hope you liked it. And by the way, there is already a second part. ;)  
> I would be glad about your comments or thoughts about it :) And above all, let me know if you are interested in the second part?


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